The inclusion of the rudiments of mathematical logic into the introductory college mathematics curriculum

• Main Author: Maalat, Chula U.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1987
• Subjects: Logic; Symbolic and mathematical; Mathematics > Study and teaching; Curriculum and Instruction; Science and Mathematics Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/110
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study is an attempt to include the rudiments of mathematical logic into the introductory college mathematics curriculum. Specifically, it aims to:1. consider the mathematical background of the freshman college students taking this course 2. justify the inclusion of logic in an introductory course 3. suggest a method of approaching the presentation of logic in an introductory mathematics course 4. present the points of the course where the rudiments of logic be introduced or included. The study subscribes to the material development study which uses the descriptive research design. The documentary analysis of books and other publications is utilized as data gathering instrument. The mathematical background of the freshman students who are the future users of this test is assessed, using two standardized tests. The group mean and the standard deviation of test scores are determined using some statistics computer programs. Findings of the study showed that the introductory course has been oriented to assuring the mastery of the algorithms. Second, the students are generally weak in comprehension, computation, and reasoning. The conclusions based on the findings state that the introductory course should not be a course primarily for developing skills in math computations, but rather should include, among other things, the rudiments of mathematical logic. In addition, teaching materials may be developed that will improve students' performance in math particularly in reading comprehension and in reasoning.